Ducks Put Out Flames, 2-1

ANAHEIM – Playing without captain Chris Pronger, who sat out after surgery for a jaw fracture, and a flu-ridden head coach Randy Carlyle, the Ducks looked like they didn’t miss them at all.

Mathieu Schneider opened the scoring just 35 seconds into it and the Ducks never looked back.

The Ducks held Calgary to just one goal on 23 shots – and the remaining defensemen were involved in all three Ducks scores – in hanging on for a 3-1 victory over Calgary at Honda Center. It was the fifth straight win for Anaheim and the 10th in the last 11 games.

Assistant coach Dave Farrish took Carlyle's spot and earned his first career win.

"Randy was not here and we were missing some key guys, but we managed to put that to the side," Niedermayer said. "We just tried to play our game and got rewarded for it."

Niedermayer helped with a goal and an assist, and Mathieu Schneider found the net just 35 seconds into the game to pace the Ducks, who only gave up a Dion Phaneuf goal in the second period.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere saved everything else, running his record to 8-1-1 in the month of February. Giguere made several key stops with the Ducks clutching to a 2-1 lead for most of the third, and benefited from two Calgary shots in the period that glanced off the crossbar.

Pronger did make his presence felt despite not being in uniform. Clad in a tan suit, he was able to stand behind the Ducks bench for the entire game, since Anaheim was a player short with injuries to Pronger, Todd Marchant, Doug Weight and Ryan Carter. And according to Farrish, Pronger did more than spectate.

"I wanted to get him an idea of what it feels like to be back there," Farrish said. "He’s certainly been around long enough. He’s like a coach on the ice anyway. Any addition he could add to us back there was going to be appreciated. I thought he did a great job for us. I left him all night long. I said ‘Here’s what I want you to go with’ and I left him in charge of it. Everything he did was his decision.:"

The Ducks couldn’t breathe easy until a Teemu Selanne goal on the 5-on-3 with just 51.9 seconds remaining. That came after a high sticking penalty by Kristian Huselius (a double minor for drawing blood on Rob Niedermayer) and a holding minor from Phaneuf, after which he got two more minutes for yelling at the officials and slamming his stick. It was just one of a myriad of ways the gritty defenseman made his presence felt on the night.

Those two penalties were devastating for Calgary, which had several chances to tie it in the third, but were forced to play shorthanded for the remainder of the night.

"Dave did a great job of coming in, keeping it simple and not trying to do too much," said Ryan Getzlaf. "He rolled the lines. Dave knows our system as well as anybody, as do we. He just had to reinforce those extra little things and he did it tonight."

In a first period marked by several skirmishes, Anaheim got on the board very early on a Mathieu Schneider strike just 35 seconds after the opening faceoff. Schneider faked a shot from above the right circle, then waited for traffic to clear in the slot before firing a wrister under the top right corner of the net.

Just under five minutes later, Todd Bertuzzi and Phaneuf would get into the first of several scuffles involving Phaneuf. After Phaneuf drilled Corey Perry near the Calgary goal, and rubbed it in Perry’s face, Bertuzzi came to his teammate’s defense. He got face to face with Phaneuf before the two started throwing punches. Both went spilling to the ice, with Bertuzzi’s night ending on a game misconduct call for not having his jersey tied down in the fight.

Phaneuf would again get into it with another Ducks youngster, Ryan Getzlaf, with under a minute left in the first, throwing Getzlaf to the ice behind the Flames net. The two were initially separated, but were still jawing and pushing at each other as Perry threw punches with Mark Smith away from the scrum. That led to skaters from both teams heading over to the area and getting into it, with Getzlaf and Phaneuf still screaming at each other after they finally headed back to their benches.

When the dust settled, Perry got two minutes for roughing and four (double minor) for spearing, while Getzlaf and Sean O’Donnell both took roughing minors. Smith received a double minor for roughing, while Phaneuf and Godard each were tagged with roughing penalties.

Sandwiched between the two brawls was another Ducks goal, which came on the man advantage at 13:58 with Phaneuf off the ice for holding. Perry, who had been in the box for a dubious goaltender interference call, got the play going be springing out of it and putting a hit on Cory Sarich that freed the puck for Getzlaf. He made a beautiful feed from the corner to the slot, where Scott Niedermayer put the puck in the exact same top corner spot that Schneider scored in at the beginning of the period.

"It was a bit of a chippy first period where we could have got carried away," said Scott Niedermayer, part of a Ducks team that upset Calgary in seven games in the first round of the '06 playoffs. "You can remember when you have a series against a team and compete that hard. They are a physical team. We have guys that are physical. It doesn’t get forgotten easily, so it’s sort of what to expect I guess. It will last awhile. It just feeds off itself. I think we’re comfortable playing that way."

The Ducks were without Pronger (right) and head coach Randy Carlyle, who was replaced by assistant Dave Farrish.

Calgary goalie Miikka Kiprusoff, who gave up four goals in the second period to the Ducks 12 days ago at Honda Center, was pulled for the second period, with Curtis Joseph taking his spot in net. Coach Mike Keenan tried to take out Kiprusoff with five minutes left in the first, after an icing call, but was informed by officials he couldn’t do it.

Joseph and the Calgary defense held the Ducks at bay in the second, as Anaheim came up empty on just six shots. Meanwhile, Phaneuf again made his presence felt, this time on the attacking end. He took a Jarome Iginla feed in the slot and wristed it past Jean-Sebastien Giguere on the stick side, just inside the left post.

The Ducks dodged a bullet at the exact halfway point of the period when a Mathew Lombardi shot flew past a drawn-out Giguere, but glanced off the right post. With 4:01 left, a Phaneuf shot from the point was deflected in front and clanked off the crossbar.

The Ducks put the dagger in when Selanne scored on a pretty play in which the Ducks looked to be toying with the Calgary penalty kill. Kunitz touch-passed from the slot to Scott Niedermayer near the right post, who held it for a few seconds before giving it back to Kunitz in front. Kunitz tipped it to his left to Selanne, who sent a wrister past Joseph to ice it.

"I thought the guys did a great job responding," Getzlaf said. "Our goaltender played unbelievable for us and that’s what we have to do. Those are the fun games to play in. Obviously we have to stay focused and try not to get into too much penalty trouble. We did a little bit there in the second period, but our guys rebounded well."

One of those guys was defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron, who made his Ducks debut after being acquired in a trade Tuesday.The Ducks will try to keep their streak alive when they have a rematch with Ottawa on Monday night at Honda Center, the first matchup between the teams since Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final.

GAME NOTES

The Ducks are 12-2-1 in their last 15 games at Honda Center. Anaheim remains six points behind Dallas for the Pacific Division lead with 15 games remaining.

The Ducks recorded their 10th win tonight in the month of February (10-2-1 overall). It ties a franchise record for the most wins in February (also 1998-99). It also marks just the seventh time in the NHL since the 1995-96 season that a club has recorded a 10+ win in the month of February. Anaheim is the only team to have done it more than once. Dallas ties Anaheim this season for the most wins in February with 10.

Anaheim has gone 17-for-18 (94.4%) on the penalty kill in the last four games. The club has allowed just two power play goals in the last five games, going 19-for-21 (90.5%) overall.

The Ducks extended their win streak versus Calgary at Honda Center to six games, dating back to Oct. 26, 2005.

Anaheim now holds a record of 17-2-2 (.857) when leading after the first period and a record of 25-1-1 (.944) when leading after the second period.

The Ducks have allowed only five goals in their last 11 games in the third period/overtime (226 MIN, 1.33 GAA).

Teemu Selanne extended his goal streak to four games (6-2=8) and his point streak to five games (6-3=9). He has also earned 7-3=10 points in the last seven games. In addition, Selanne has scored five power play goals in the last seven games, accounting for five of the Ducks’ eight power play goals during that span.

J.S. Giguere recorded his fourth consecutive win tonight, stopping 22-of-23 shots. He completes the month of February with an 8-1-1 record, posting a 1.28 GAA (13 GA/608 MIN) and a .949 SV% (240-for-253). He finishes the month first in the NHL in GAA second in SV%.

Ryan Getzlaf has earned 1-3=4 points in the last two games. In addition, he has collected points in 12 of the last 13 home contests, earning 5-14=19 points during that span (dates back to Jan. 2 vs. CBJ). He has earned 2-8=10 points in the last eight games overall.

With a goal and an assist this evening, Mathieu Schneider has recorded 1-3=4 points in the last five games.

With his power play goal tonight, Scott Niedermayer registered his third game-winning goal in the last 11 games.

With an assist tonight, Chris Kunitz has earned 1-4=5 points in the last two games and 3-7=10 points in the last six contests.

Anaheim continues its franchise-record sellout streak at Honda Center, recording their 66th straight sellout (17,174) this evening. In addition, it marks the 54rd consecutive sellout in the regular season, also a franchise record.
GAME LOG

3rd Period

20:00 - END OF GAME - The Ducks clamp down on the defensive end and add an insurance goal late by Selanne to take it 3-1.

19:20 - Selanne tries to repay Kunitz with a great feed on the rush, but Kunitz's shot is knocked away by Joseph.

19:08 - ANAHEIM GOAL (POWER PLAY) - TEEMU SELANNE - The Ducks look to be toying with the Flames, as Kunitz touch-passes from the slot to Scott Niedermayer near the right post. Niedermayer gives it back to Kunitz in front of the net, and Kunitz again tips it to Selanne on his left. Selanne gathers it for a half-second, then fires a wrister past Joseph. And that ices this thing, as it's 3-1 Ducks.

16:42 - CGY Penalty - Kristian Huselius, 4 min. (double minor) high sticking. Rob Niedermayer goes down in a heap after taking Hueslius' stick to the mouth. He leaves several drops of blood on the ice as he's helped off by the trainer. It's right before the timeout, so the Power Players are able to help clean up the blood. Not exactly what they signed up for.

16:38 - Schneider gives the puck away to Huselius, whose shot from the slot is saved beautifully by Giguere.

15:59 - Phaneuf takes a shot from the point that's deflected and looked like it hit the crossbar.

13:27 - Pahlsson puts a shot on net from the right wing that looked a lot like Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final. But this one missed the net, and as the Flames charge back the other way, they're just offside.

10:00 - Lombardi throws a wrist shot past Giguere, but it glances off the right post.

9:40 - As if the Ducks haven't taken enough cuts to the face, Andrew Ebbett looks like a he took a puck or stick, but plays on.

7:50 - Beauchemin rips a slap shot that bounces off Joseph to Moen, but he can't put a stick on it.

6:21 - The Ducks do a nice job to kill the penalty, with Francois Beauchemin getting the last blocked shot, and possibly taking a broken stick because of it.

5:00 - Scotty Niedermayer again does a little bit of everyything, reaching up to swat away a puck that had popped into the air and was coming down near the Ducks net.

4:21 - ANA Penalty - Mathieu Schneider, 2 min. hoodking. Phaneuf weaves through Schnedier and Huskins with just Giguere to beat, but Giguere stuffs him before the play is whistled dead for the penalty.

3:40 - Perry looked like he took a puck to the face, just before heading to the bench.

0:00 - We're off and running in the third.

2nd Period

20:00 - END OF PERIOD - In a period much less engaging than the first, Calgary gets the lone goal, a Dion Phaneuf strike 7:09 into it. The Ducks go into the third with a 2-1 cushion.

19:49 - Kunitz and Perry get on the 2-on-1 and Kunitz makes a great leading feed to Perry, who tries to one-hand deflect it, but Joseph flips on his side to make a phenomenal save.

17:10 - Bergeron, he of the legendary hard shot, takes a one-timer but doesn't catch it right and it's more of a changeup.

15:58 - CGY Penalty - Kristian Huselius, 2 min. holding. There is a little scrap after the whistle, but not much to it.

13:58 - Kunitz springs out of the Calgary zone and gets off a hard slap shot that Joseph saves.

11:40 - Selanne makes a move near the right post, but it's knocked away by Joseph. Rookie Ebbett tries to punch it in, but can't get an angle on it as it slides through the paint.
The Kiss Cam again doesn't disappoint. One guys kisses the girl to his left. Then without hesitating, kisses the girl to his right. Very impressive. The first girl didn't look too pleased about it. He's hearing about that one later. Hope you like the couch, buddy.

8:33 - Selanne looks to go on a breakaway down the left wing, but Aucoin, who looked to be holding Selanne's stick from behind, knocks the puck away.

7:09 - CALGARY GOAL (POWER PLAY) - DION PHANEUF - Jarome Iginla feeds Phaneuf as he's cruising toward the slot and he lets go of a shot that gets by Giguere on the stick side and just inside the left post. Ducks lead cut in half.

6:40 - Giguere does a nice job to stop a shot from the point, not to mention the rebound try by Huselius.

It's Carl's Jr. Trivia time and Matt from Aliso Viejo is asked who is the father of leap year. Is it Nostradamu, Julius Caeser or Kathie Lee Gifford? (Nice third choice). Matt, obviously a reader of Ducks Blog, answers correctly, Caeser. He's then asked the bonus of which NHL goaltender was born on leap year, Cam Ward, Chris Osgood or Marty Turco? He answers Osgood, but it's Cam Ward.

6:15 - ANA Penalty - Mathieu Schneider, 2 min. holding.

3:29 - The gloves go flying off between George Parros and Jim Vandermeer behind the Calgary net. Vandermeer appears to get the better of it, getting in a few shots on Parros as he pushes Georgie into the glass, then finally taking Parros down to the ice. They both get 5.

0:00 - We start the second with Curtis Joseph in net for Calgary. Odd move. We'll try to find out more later.

1st Period

20:00 - END OF PERIOD - A noticeably chippy first period finally comes to a close with the Ducks up 2-0 on two defenseman goals.

19:37 - ANA Penalty - Corey Perry, 2 min. roughing and 4 min. (double minor) spearing, Sean O'Donnell, 2 min. roughing and Ryan Getzlaf, 2 min. roughing. CGY Penalty - Mark Smith, 4 min. (double minor) roughing, Eric Godard, 2 min. roughing and Dion Phaneuf, 2 min. roughing. Phaneuf, who is getting a little rambunctious tonight, throws Getzlaf down behind the net, knocking it off its moorings. The two have to be separated as they continue to try and push each other. Away from the play, on the other side of the ice, Perry gets into it with Smith, and then Phaneuf joins in, followed by Getzlaf. That creates a scrum among the 10 skaters near the glass. Getzlaf and Phaneuf are still yelling at each other near the Ducks bench, with Getzlaf smiling and clearly yelling, "Shut up!" Seconds later, George Parros is shown on the video screen, to the delight of the crowd, and he looks like he's ready to get nasty.

19:02 - Kipper goes way in the air to glove a deflected puck on a Kunitz shot.
13:58 - ANAHEIM GOAL (POWER PLAY) - SCOTT NIEDERMAYER - The Ducks set up, waiting for Corey Perry to get out of the box and he pays immediate dividends, putting a hit on Cory Sarich to give Ryan Getzlaf access to the loose puck. Getzlaf then makes a gorgeous feed from the corner to Niedermayer in the slot, and the Ducks defenseman fires a wrister that hits the exact top right corner that Schneider scored in. It's 2-0 Ducks.

13:13 - Andrian Aucion takes a hard shot from the point that Giguere does a nice job to save and hold.

11:44 - ANA Penalty - Corey Perry, 2 min. goaltender interference. Perry runs into Kiprusoff and Kipper flops to the ice like he took an arrow to the head.

9:32 - Kent Huskins gets pushed hard into Giguere and fights back, leading to a scuffle in front of the net. No harm done.

Word is that Bertuzzi got the game misconduct because his jersey wasn't tied down.

6:18 - After a Schneider shot from the point that Kiprusoff stops, Kunitz is right there to punch in the loose puck, which he almost does. But Kiprusoff somehow jumps on it with his glove just before it crosses the line.

5:41 - CGY Penalty - Cory Sarich, 2 min. holding.

5:31 - ANA Penalty - Todd Bertuzzi, 5 min. fighting and game misconduct. CGY Penalty - Dion Phaneuf, 5 min. fighting. After Phanuef drills Perry to the ice near the Calgary goal, he gives Perry a couple more shots before standing over him and rubbing it in. Perry, surprisingly, skates away without retaliating, but Todd Bertuzzi had more in mind. He gets face to face with Phaneuf and they both drop the gloves. They both get in a few blows before both go spilling to the ice, with Phaneuf's jersey pulled over his head. They both get 5, but Bertuzzi also gets a game misconduct for some reason and his night is over.

1:38 - ANA Penalty - Matthew Lombardi, 2 min. hooking.
0:35 - ANAHEIM GOAL - MATHIEU SCHNEIDER - The puck is sent back to Schneider above the right circle. He fakes a shot, then holds it to wait for traffic to clear in the slot before getting off a wrister just under the top right corner of the net. It's 1-0 early for Anaheim.

0:00 - We're underway at Honda Center. Chris Pronger is in a suit on the Ducks bench, maybe in place of the sick Randy Carlyle.